Quiet As a Mouse
by TheGromm
Summary: The iron castle of Aincrad always made people become what they never expected. Most strove for power. Some for infamy. Others, well they just wanted to get out alive. The best way to do that? Go unnoticed. Keep yourself hidden, practically a ghost. And above all else... Never piss off information brokers... Man that was cheesy. Anyways OC-Centric story. Be warned.


A/N

Hello there. I'm Gromm. To put it simply, I have been a long-time lurker on this site, commonly binge-reading the many romantic entries in multiple different fandoms. This is the first time I will be actually writing something out. Well, I say first, but I tried once in the past. I just disliked how it came out and deleted it. Anyways, I don't necessarily expect this to get a good reception, I just thought of this sometime this week and wanted to put my thoughts down.

 **"Oh Noooo, not another OC-centric SAO fic!"** I hear you say. Well, You read the description. Plus I think it's an interesting concept. There aren't many stealth centered stories out there. Most just try to jack up the action ( Which this story will end up having, just not as much). In all honesty I just wrote this on a whim, and just want to get the concept out there. nyways, I'll probably post a few chapters (4-5) before even debating scrapping this. What's the point in giving up after the first chapter. Plus I kinda set things up for more... You'll see what I mean. This is basically the "Pilot" of sorts so, go ahead and check it out, and we will see how it goes.

Quiet As A Mouse

Chapter 1: Reconnaissance.

 **First Floor, Town of Beginnings**

The Aincrad liberation force had always seemed a bit "off" to the normal players. Calling themselves the army was a bit too conceited for many players' tastes. Many rumors were spread about the guild, but none were proven.

Well, not until today.

Enter a young boy of 16, with light brown hair and a fairly small body size. IGN: Mute, though most people didn't even know he existed. To put it simply, he was a mercenary of sorts. Not for fighting though. He was more of a "spy for hire." Which is what lead him to the first floor today.

There had been many rumors on the upper floors of how the ALF was using force to "control" the Town of Beginnings. This would cause a lot of problems for the people living there, them being the people too afraid to leave and fight on the front lines. Basically, it was rumored that the ALF were preying on the weak, something his client had decided had gone too far. And so, he was hired to do some surveillance of the first floor town, as well as find what he can at their base of operations.

And so far, he only wished he didn't have to relay what he had seen from those pigs they call guards.

Plenty of extortion for money, violent threats toward obviously low-level players. Even multiple guards ganging up on one person just because one of them was bumped by the man. To put it plainly, Mute was disgusted so far. Though one part made his blood come to a boil. The ALF's guard's interactions with the female players was... Just awful. It seemed like they were treated like property, and that was one thing he, and probably more so his client, cannot stand. But he was only hired for surveillance, so he begrudgingly began heading for their base of operations.

\

And that is where he is now, standing outside of their base. Oddly enough, they used a portion of the Black Iron Palace and some of their neighboring buildings as a kind of "ALF district." Completely fenced off from outsiders, it sure seemed well secured.

Like I said, SEEMED.

Mute didn't have to look 3 seconds before he noticed the lack of security in the area. It's almost like they were begging to get robbed. He makes a quick leap over the fence, making sure to keep his cloak firmly covering his face and body, and runs to an alley to ensure his safety. Looking around, he didn't see any guards at all, which seemed extremely odd. Well, that was until he saw an open door across the way. A large tavern, filled to the brim with drunk Army men. Loud yelling and a few crashing sounds could be heard from inside the dimly lit building. Mute couldn't resist the urge to facepalm. _Oh well, at least this makes it a lot easier._

As he came across what he assumed to be their main base, where their leader stayed and their information lay, he finally ran into his first problem. Well, problem may be an overstatement. Just one guard, on a very obvious pattern, walking back and forth in front of the main entrance. As easy as it sounded, Mute was not one to underestimate a situation. Making sure he knew the player's pattern, he quickly made his way to the side of the building when the guard's back was turned. There he found a simple air vent. At this point, he started to get skeptical about how easy this had been so far. Simply put, this place is less secure than the orphanage he saw earlier. But, not one to look a gift-horse in the mouth, he opened the vent and crawled in.

As he made his way silently through the vent, he began to hear faint voices. As he progressed, they began to get louder, until he could finally make them out.

"...nd then I got all of his money, just from taking out my sword. Amazing, right?" Immediately Mute disliked this voice. But per his job, he began recording on a voice crystal to catch the conversation.

"But boss, why are we doing this again?" A second voice, obviously who this "boss" was talking to previously.

"I've already told you, these freeloaders on the first floor do absolutely nothing for anyone else. So is it too much to ask that they pay a little... Let's say tax, to help out with the front lines?"

"I don't remember sending any off to the front lines..."

"To them, we ARE the front lines, and there isn't anyone around to tell them otherwise. We control this city, therefore we control the information coming into it. It's really simple to be honest" As Mute lay there listening, he began to feel a huge amount of disdain for this "Army of the people" as they called themselves. _Well, I guess that should be enough evidence to get the front liners to look into this more seriously_. As he went to make his retreat, he heard something he wished he hadn't.

"So uh, boss. Why do we have all of those people that couldn't pay in jail?"

"You're kidding right? No taxes, no free ride. It's as simple as that." _Alright, that's a bit more... but this has gotten a bit too far. I really should le.._.

"But why do you keep the women in a different building?" _Lackey say what now?_ Mute severely hoped this "Boss" was not about to say what he thought he would.

"Simple, if they can't pay with their money, then we can have them pay in an... Alternative way... Just don't tell Yulier or Thinker. They hardly even know about our little base here."

Mute stayed there in his spot for a moment, thinking. _Alright, I have a few options: Beat this guy to a pulp. No that would blow my cover. Report to these two people he answers to. No, I have no idea where to find them. Looks like I go with #3. Smuggle innocent people out of this awful place. Shouldn't be too hard to find, seeing as this area isn't that big._ Mute quickly made his way out of the vents and began his search. The obvious area to search would be near the Iron Palace itself, seeing as how these people were "prisoners." It took him all of five minutes to find the building he assumed was correct. Well, the increased security made it pretty obvious. Now they had TWO guards. Seriously, were these guys this cocky? The best part, both guards were asleep. And when I say asleep, I mean passed out drunk in front of the building. Mute assessed the situation and decided entering from the roof would be best, so as to not get caught from anyone that may be inside.

He could only wish that he hadn't been right about that. He extended his favorite fighting tool, 2 sharp claw-like gauntlets, and used them to help him climb the building Exterior. He made it to a window high up and slowly cut a hole in it with his tool. _They didn't even protect this place with the system?... This is a new level of stupidity._ What he saw when he entered wasn't far from what he expected, but still disgusted him nonetheless.

This floor seemed to house the male "Law-Breakers." Ranging from about 13 to probably in their early 20s, these men seemed quite worse for wear. For now, there seemed to be about 8 of them, so getting them out of the area may prove a challenge without detection. He quickly made his way to the first makeshift "prison" and unlocked it. The man inside, about 19, looked at him in shock. He made to speak, but Mute quickly hushed him. Mute then whispered "Any guards inside?"

"Most likely downstairs. With... the Women"

That was all Mute needed to hear. He quickly made his way to the other cells and freed the men, telling them to stay upstairs to keep themselves secure while Mute himself checked the rest of the house. He made his way to the stairs in the corner of the room, and made a glance back and the boys. They all gave re-assuring smiles to him before he began slowly creeping downstairs.

"C'mon baby, Jus a littl somethin? I am a big bad Army man!" Mute knew now that there was a man there, and he disliked him. Greatly.

"No! All the Army does is terrorize the players of this floor, and it's pathetic. Go do your jobs and start clearing the floors, and leave the low-leveled players out of your torture!"

" Lissen, I know you're new an all, but you gotta learn how thins work round here, yeah?"

"No! Get back you creep!"

Mute had heard enough, he stuck his head around the hallway and into a room where a girl of about 15 sat on a bed with an army member slowly making his way towards her. It was obvious the man was drunk by the way he had spoken, and was reinforced by his wobbly walking. Mute quickly took out a throwing pick and threw it at the man. The pick found its mark in the man's neck. At first the man just looked around confused. Then he slumped over, falling asleep on the spot. The young girl looked confused as well, and made to poke the man. " No time for that, let's move"

Mute's voice seemed to have shocked her out of her trance-like state. She looked over at him hesitantly and slowly nodded, not seeming too confident in Mute's mysterious appearance. Mute made his way to another room, where the other female prisoners were being held. Along with the girl from the other room, there were 7 girls. That made 15 people in total, 16 including himself. This might be difficult, but he never shied away from a challenge. They all seemed frightened when they saw someone come in, but were relieved when he was not wearing an army uniform. He quickly set them all free, and told them to stay put so that he could retrieve the others from upstairs. As the 15 prisoners gathered at the door, Mute spoke, seeing no need for whispering now that the house was clear. " Alright, I'm going to need you all to cooperate with me in this. I will go out and make sure the coast is clear, and call you to me one at a time to ensure all of your safety. If we run into any problems... Well we can improvise if it comes to it"

That last line may not have done much to sway the nerves of the group, but Mute didn't want to lie to them. He was all about stealth. Sure he could fight, but he had next to no experience fighting players. With those words Mute slowly opened the front door. As he expected, the two guards were still passed out on the front lawn. Mute quickly made his way to the nearest alleyway. He looked around and saw no signs of movement, and made a signal for the first person to follow him. He repeated this motion until all 15 had made it safely to him. And they repeated the entire process until they could see the large fence that blocked their exit. The entrance and exit to the gate had 2 guards in front of it, both actually attentive as it seemed. Mute was making a strategy to deal with them until a fellow guard made his way to them quickly, seemingly panicked. He spoke a few words to them, and they all 3 ran towards the center of the compound, leaving the exit completely unattended. As the escapees all looked around thinking that this may be a trap, Mute knew better from all of his experiences that day. "Everyone out. Scatter out the door, and make your way to a safe place, preferably another town."

The girl from before quickly spoke up. "Can we at least know your name, so that we can thank you? You did save us after all."

Mute was never one for taking credit, but the girl had asked, and he begrudgingly told them "Mute. Now, let's go, and good luck."

They all made a break for the exit, and ran in different directions as they flooded out of the gates. As they did that, Mute made sure to climb a building near the gate to keep watch. No guards came chasing them, and all-in-all it seemed like a very successful effort.

"Really now, were the heroics necessary?"

After being in this game for so long, there was no way he could mistake that voice, though it still irked him how his client could always sneak up on the self-proclaimed most silent player in Aincrad. At this point, it hardly bothers him anymore when she shows up like that.

"And here I thought you wouldn't be caught dead on the first floor. Something about the army hating you more than the Black Swordsman?"

"Well if I remember correctly, I sent a certain someone on an information gathering mission. Which would have normally ended 2 hours ago for someone so good at their job. So I had to make sure my best gatherer wasn't in any trouble. And what do I see but him leading a prison break? That hardly seems like something you'd do."

" Can it Argo. We both know this was what you planned all along. You knew what was happening here, you just needed evidence to support it."

The girl named Argo chuckled slightly. "And you're saying you would have rather not helped out those players?"

"... No, but that was really manipulative of you. Granted it makes sense, you are a rat. I put my perfect record on the line to save those people, you know?" Mute said with a defeated sigh. "If you weren't one of my best customers, I'd seriously think about not doing business with you again."

" Awwww Muuute! Don't say that to a girl. You'll make her feel lonely~" Mute could feel the wink that she gave him without even looking in her direction. She was always like that with everyone. Very apt to tease, or at least try to, at a moment's notice. Never bothered Mute though.

"Anyways, here's that information you needed. I'm assuming you're going to sell it to some front lines players at a premium?" Mute said as he handed over the crystal he had used earlier.

"Absolutely. A girl can't get by without her money."

"And as you know, I can't get by without mine." Mute said as he held out his hand expectantly. It wasn't a few seconds before he felt a pouch of col in the palm of his hand.

"Of course, I'm a girl of my word. Now then. I'll call on you when I need you next. Don't die on me out there!" She said as she disappeared into the night, probably heading towards the teleport gate.

 _Man, that girl really is a piece of work... Still, at least she pays me well. Not like she doesn't have the money for it._ Mute mused as he began to make his way towards the gate himself. _No point in complaining about her work. Not like I have much choice in the matter._ He thought, as he began remembering how he ended up becoming her "employee" of sorts. Of course, everyone in Aincrad's story begins at the start of this world. Mute's story was no different. Everyone's new lives began on that one, fateful day.

End Chapter 1

A/N

And that's the first chapter of "Quiet as a Mouse." As i said, it might not be fantastic, but it's an interesting concept. Anyways, I can say with decent confidence that the next chapter will be up in the next week or so. And uh... I don't know how to end things... Bye!


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